The present invention relates to a toner cartridge for supplying a toner to a toner hopper incorporated in the developing apparatus of a copier, printer or similar image forming equipment.
A toner cartridge for the above application is removably mounted on a developing apparatus and has an opening for letting a toner fall into the apparatus therethrough. A seal member covers the opening of the toner cartridge and has customarily been detached when the cartridge is inserted into the developing apparatus and attached when the former is pulled out of the latter. The problem with this kind of toner cartridge is that the toner is scattered around when the seal member is detached from or attached to the cartridge. Means for stripping the seal member when the cartridge is inserted into the developing apparatus is conventional and implemented as a pick-up roller and a driving device mounted on the developing apparatus or a shutter mounted on the cartridge. However, the pick-up roller and driving device scheme is troublesome because the seal member of the toner cartridge has to be affixed to the take-up roller which is mounted on the developing apparatus. The shutter scheme is not satisfactory because the shutter cannot fully peel off the seal member when simply moved into and out of the developing apparatus, i.e., the seal member has to be fully stripped by hand.